Its not every day that you get to say you appeared in the Daily Mail but today is one of those days. As many of you know, I work for the charity RNID and we recently had a carol concert ... Continue reading →
It's Christmas 1958 and the Smith family of Wolverley, near Kidderminster, are still living in a cave. Click on the picture to go to the newsreel on the British Pathe site. Later. Gary Allanach has tweeted this story from the Kidderminster Shuttle about a cave in Wolverley, quite possibly the same one, selling for £100,000 in July 2007.
Thu 23rd
22:35
Is it compliant or legal to allegedly use subterfuge to find out absolutely zippo from the most stra...
So, it's the final day of the Telegraph's surgery revelations. The earth shakes as we find out that Jeremy Browne thinks the Tories had a "harsh" immigration policy. Mountains tremble as we read that Sarah Teather 'stuck to the script'. (I'm not sure how the "honey trap" element of the Telegraph's ruse worked or didn't work in the latter case.) Let's strip away all the other cases and, for the sake of argument, just focus on the case of Sarah Teather. Is it compliant with the Press Complaints Commission's code to allegedly use subterfuge to find out allegedly precisely nothing ...
[Originally posted on Bristol Running Resource, 23/12/10] Finally managed to get out the door for a run today - first time in a fortnight. Obviously the weather hasn't been great for running. I don't know about you, but that doesn't usually put me off. I find something vaguely satisfying about finishing a run and discovering ...
It is announced that there is finally and end to the ridiculous business of enforcing an ID card on everyone. Not only was it an infingement of our civil liberties, but £850 Million has been saved by axing them. So here I am in Sainsbury's car park at Whitehouse Farm taking the sticker out of the car. A happy ending to one of the many campaigns I have been involved in. Sadly it...
Locals and Tourists - maps coloured by photo density and originator Really very cool, nice use of data and tag information. I recognised SF without knowing what was going on, rather well done. (tags: travel photos maps) Best reply ever? Seriously, just go read both letters. Reminds me very much of Arkell vs Pressdram (tags: sports lawyers letters funny)
Courtesy of BBC News: Debbie Abrahams (Labour)Derek Adams (British National Party)Kashif Ali (Conservative)Peter Allen (Green Party)David Bishop (Bus-Pass Elvis Party)The Flying Brick (Monster Raving Loony Party)Loz Kaye (Pirate Party of the United Kingdom)Stephen Morris (English Democrats)Paul Nuttall (UK Independence Party)Elwyn Watkins (Liberal Democrats)Note the frantic contest to be first on the ballot paper.
Update from the City Council : Domestic Refuse - domestic refuse should be collected on normally scheduled days e.g. if your normal day of collection is Monday then your collections are scheduled for Monday 27th December and Monday 3rd January. Domestic Recycling - all domestic recycling collection during the festive period will be carried out as scheduled. Please consult your collection calendar or visit https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/forms/wastemgt_calendars.php Recycling Centres - at Marchbanks, Riverside and Baldovie are closed on 25th/26th December and 1st/2nd January. They will be open as normal (9 am - 4.15 pm) Monday to Friday both weeks for disposal of ...
Some months ago, the City Council proposed a significant extension of double yellow lines in Perth Road and West Park Road near to Harris Academy, because of the number of parked cars that have caused problems such as obstruction. Some weeks ago, I had a meeting at Harris Academy with residents, the Depute Head Teacher and a City Council Risk Management representative to see if an alteration to the road access in the school (pictured right) could mean more staff cars are off the street and into staff car parks. This would avoid the need for much of the proposed ...
Cambridge City Council Leader Sian Reid is battling with the government for a fairer deal after a 20 per cent cut in the city council's grant from government next year. Cllr Reid has talked to Local Government Minister, Andrew Stunnell after the city council was told it would receive 12 per cent less in grant funding than it was expecting for 2011/12. Prudent management by the Lib Dem controlled city council has meant that some of this can be absorbed but the reduction in government grant gives the council less to spend in future years. The figure includes a £900,000 ...
I have raised with the Director of Tayside Contracts and the Chief Executive of Dundee City Council the matter of salt supplies. The City Council's Chief Executive has updated me this afternoon as follows : "At the beginning of the season we had in stock approx 5,500 tonnes of salt (this is 1,000 tonnes higher than usual). Up to and including the 21 December approx 4,000 tonnes has been used. We have received 1,000 tonnes from suppliers and 500 tonnes of mutual aid (from Perth & Kinross) leaving us with a balance of approx 3,000 tonnes. Using present conservation methods ...
Last year a number of people spoke to me about the possibility of being sued if they cleared the snow and ice from the pavement outside their homes. In fact, the "You and Yours" program on Radio 4 actually did a report on this very subject. So given the situation we now find ourselves in I am pleased to pass on some information I have received from the Government courtesy of the North Meols Civic Society There's no law stopping you from clearing snow and ice on the pavement outside your home or from public spaces. It's unlikely you'll be ...
Identity cards were officially scrapped last night when the Identity Documents Bill was granted Royal Assent. Liberal Democrats have consistently campaigned against ID cards, a scheme introduced by the previous Labour Government. All existing ID cards will be cancelled within one month, and the National Identity Register will be destroyed within two months. The move has saved £845m in planned future investment over the next ten years. The commitment to scrap ID cards was a key election committment. The move is a key element in rolling back the previous Labour governments state control ethos and their erosion of civil liberties ...
Pre-judice. Judging in advance. I was at an early Christmas dinner last weekend, and since most of the people at it voted Lib Dem in May, being of generic left wing principals (apart from the Marxist come real-estate management lecturer, who is of extreme left wing principals, and who probably didn't vote Lib Dem!) I was cross examined over the coalition. It seems the only thing that the people at such gatherings want to hear is that you are thinking of leaving the yellows and joining the reds (or greens); no other answer is really acceptable. After denouncing the MPs ...
Liberal Democrats in Bury are calling on the Council to step up consultation on the future of local services after the government cut Bury's budget by around £12m for the coming year. The budget, set as part of the nationwide local government settlement, will see Bury Council lose around a quarter of its budget over the next four years. Liberal Democrats are concerned that without proper consultation, many valuable services could be threatened. Cllr Richard Baum, Resource spokesman for the Bury Liberal Democrats, said "We all know that cuts need to happen to deal with mess inherited by the government. ...
What is behind the Daily Telegraph's campaign of entrapment against Liberal Democrat ministers? The answer can be found in a House Points column I wrote after the resignation of David Laws. There I wrote of the Daily Telegraph That newspaper is the focus for a group of malcontents who don't just resent the coalition: they resent all the changes David Cameron has made to drag his party back into the political mainstream. In their political Lalaland the country is crying out for hard right-wing government - the sort of policies that did so much to bring William Hague and Michael ...
To those within the Camborne North ward and around our great town of Camborne; I wish a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Anna Pascoe
Merry Christmasand aHappy New Yearto all our readers Best wishes from the Sodbury, Yate and Dodington Liberal DemocratFocus Team
Apologies for the lack of updates – my wife and I are visiting her parents in Minnesota for Xmas. Unfortunately, it took 48 hours to get here, due to weather in Paris. I *was* planning to write the rest of the Escapology And Eschatology series this week, in preparation for it coming out as part ...
It's a bold, sweeping heading for a blog post if ever I've written one but after another tumultuous week for Lib Dem Ministers, some 'end of year' Coalition considerations must be made. Torygraph 'Sting' Over the past few days, Lib Dem Ministers have all found themselves at the end of what has basically been an entrapment process by the Daily Torgraph. The ethics and the legality of what this newspaper has done lies on extremly thin ice (sorry, seasonal pun intended) and could be challenged in the courts. But be that as it may, the repercussions of the so called ...
The 'No to AV' campaign has had several months to recruit their 'truly cross-party, non-partisan grassroots campaign' team. Behind the spin and after all these months the names behind the key posts at 'No to AV' are all Conservative and we still don't know who is funding them: Rodney Leach - or Lord Leach to give him his proper title, is the Chair of the NO to AV campaign he is a Conservative Peer and Chairman of the euroscpetic think tank Open Europe. Matthew Elliott - Campaign Director, was Chief Executive of the Tax Payers Alliance and was presented with ...
Snippets of the latest ALDC handbook on how to enjoy a Liberal Democrat Christmas, have found their way to Liberal Vision. We are particularly impressed by the new focus on micro-targeting to the specific needs of different audiences. Social Liberals Christmas can be a troubling consumerist time of year. However don't let this dishearten you from focusing on the needs of others and equal enjoyment of the festive spirit. Please first remember to distribute at least 0.7% of your children's presents to an international development charity. Next bear in mind it is relative, not just absolute differences that will drive ...
Because I haven't sent any Christmas cards this year – I've made a donation to Shelter instead – feel free to freeze the below image on your screen and hang that up alongside your cards instead:
If we pulled out of the Coalition now, we may never be trusted with a place in Government again.
57) Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents (London: Women's Press, 2000, ISBN 0704346826). I didn't know much about this when I picked it up; trust me to choose something that uses motherhood and mother-daughter conflicts as an extended metaphor for politics and the environment in a week when I've been having nightmares about my own mother. That said, the metaphor does work quite well, and I liked the way Butler tells the story from the point of view of both mother and daughter and leaves it unresolved which of them is morally correct. It didn't hurt that she talks ...
Hilarious. From Conan O'Brien's US TV show:
In the hysteria surrounding the non Wikileaks "Cablegate" many people seem to have forgotten quite how this story came to pass in the first place. The Daily Telegraph, a fairly respected broadsheet whatever its political persuasion, just got bored pre-Christmas and went on a fishing trip. Obviously behind closed doors the two parties in the coalition have discussions about how to accommodate their differing views before presenting a united fron in public. That is how coalition politics works. Hardly news. Furthermore, Vince Cable hadn't actually done anything wrong. He was perfectly entitled to not approve the BSkyB takeover by Rupert ...
Thu 23rd
15:04Littlewoods.com - 'order with us up to 8pm tonight and you'll get your gift before Christmas Day'
Well, so said the telly advert I saw just a day ago referring to 8pm on 23rd December. That seemed extraordinary. So I went to their website. It says "Due to bad weather we're struggling to make deliveries in certain areas". Ah. There are "just a few tricky areas" it says. Like these "few tricky areas", which it lists: Scotland, Cumbria and Northern Ireland City/Town Post Codes Affected by Adverse Weather Conditions and/or Warehouse Backlog Aberdeen AB10, AB12 4, AB12 3, AB13 0, AB14 0, AB15 4, AB15 6, AB15 7, AB15 8, AB15 9, AB21 0, AB31 5, AB32 ...
A further letter asking for clarification following the Zac Goldsmith Case Review. Dear Electoral Commission, re. Case review concerning campaign expenditure return in respect of Zac Goldsmith MP Further to my email yesterday there is another issue it would be useful to have guidance on. Paragraph 3.16 of the review states: "Mr Goldsmith‟s expenses return included an invoice for leaflets which cost £11,150.39. His return declared expenditure of £8,629.76, on the basis that not all of the leaflets had been used. The allegation suggested that in fact all material purchased should have been declared. However, the RPA2 defines election expenses ...
I bumped into a young council official yesterday. I was wearing an ID tag so she could see who I was and knew that I was a Liberal Democrat. It turned out that she had voted Lib Dem in the General Election and had in fact joined the Party under Charles Kennedy because of our clear and unbending stance on the Iraq War. She had recently resigned over tuition fees (quite a rare event but still disappointing). One of the benefits of leaving was that she no longer receives the centrally produced emails to party members justifying (for instance) the ...
It amuses me to hear Ed Miliband being so dismissive about the nature of the coalition, saying it's a sham. I actually think that what we've heard over the past few days proves that it isn't. Liberal Democrat MPs and ministers are not making life easy for themselves, but they know that they can do more good in the Government than out of it, and that life would be much worse if they weren't there. I got to thinking, though, what if the Telegraph (or some other paper) had decided to throw ethics to the wind this time last year, ...
[Originally posted on The Policy Press Blog, 23/12/10] The analysis of continuity and change is a preoccupation for scholars of the policy process. While a range of frameworks have been proposed, it would be fair to say that institutionalist approaches are currently flavour of the month. A long-standing challenge for historical institutionalism, however, is an ...
Sir Tim Rice explores the lasting appeal of British magazine Eagle and the impact of its flagship character Dan Dare.Eagle ran in two main incarnations between 1950 and 1994. Dan Dare, often referred to as "Biggles in space", is regarded in some circles as the greatest British science fiction hero of the 20th centuryIn this feature we chart the influences behind the comic, and explore the life of its creator Marcus Morris, a fascinating man who began the publication because of his concern over 'horrific' US comics which presented 'disturbing' storylines which he felt 'corrupted British youth'.The programme reveals how ...
Just in case you missed it on the 22nd December 2010 Identity cards, the failed "Database State" project left behind by New Labour, were finally scrapped when the "Identity Documents Bill" was granted Royal Assent. Both locally and nationally Liberal Democrats have consistently campaigned against ID cards and having them finally killed off is a major victory. All existing ID cards will be cancelled within one month, and the National Identity Register will be destroyed within two months. Scrapping this unwelcome invasion of personal liberty will save £845m in planned future government expenditure supporting the system over the next ten ...
Here is the latest campaign video from those nice people who are running the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign. They are working hard to make sure that the referendum is won next May 5th. There are a lot of powerful vested interests who don't want to see change. They don't want MPs to have to work harder, and they don't see why an MP should have the support of even half their electorate.That's why the Yes to AV people need lots of volunteers to add to the 150,000 people who've already signed up. I know that you may well have ...
I must apologise. I promised that i would publish the 'Thank you' leaflet for the second 1910 election on the centenary of the event. I forgot. I will put the event in context over the Christmas holiday
The Sunday Times(£) has played echo for anonymous "Downing Street sources" briefing that "if it looks like he [Nick Clegg] will lose his Sheffield Hallam seat, there will be an emergency exit strategy which could see him land one the big jobs in Brussels" namely becoming a Member of the Commission. The "Downing Street source" behind this must not have Nick Clegg's or the Liberal Democrats' interests at heart. It feeds the narrative of "Nick Clegg under siege" of which "Nick Clegg may lose his seat" is the hyperbolic epitome. Nick Clegg would be extremely well qualified for the Commission, ...
Christmas is the time for parties and fun - a last blast before turning over a new leaf in the New Year. Stopping smoking is the classic New Year's resolution for good reason: those who give up can gain up to 10 years' life expectancy and quitting is always worthwhile at any age. Smoking is an addiction most smokers will come to bitterly regret. No one wants to be lectured or nannied but we cannot simply sit back and hope things will get better. The Liberal Democrat consultation on health, drawn up by Paul Burstow in the autumn, puts the ...
A short post just to wish everyone the best at Christmas. And if any Daily Telegraph journalists are reading this, I don't altogether trust the Tories and I certainly don't agree with every government policy. That's because I'm not a Tory, I'm a Lib Dem! And plan to remain one!
I am really pleased that the ID card legislation has finally been put to bed! It was 4 years and two weeks ago that I proposed a motion to Bedfordshire County Council distancing the County Council from the then bare legislation. Now the legislation no longer exists! More good work in Government.
Identity cards were officially scrapped last night when the Identity Documents Bill was granted Royal Assent. Liberal Democrats have consistently campaigned against ID cards, a scheme introduced by the previous Labour Government. All existing ID cards will be cancelled within one month, and the National Identity Register will be destroyed within two months. The move has saved £845m in planned future investment over the next ten years.
Yesterday the Electoral Commission decided not to refer Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith's election expenses to the police for further investigation. Though this brings to an end official inquiries into whether Zac Goldsmith had kept within election law, the details of the Electoral Commission's rulings leave several questions about Goldsmith's expenses unanswered and also suggest that in future spending under the limit during the long campaign may be seen as a defence for breaking the short campaign limit. As the Electoral Commission reports: The Commission concluded that the total expenditure on the 'short campaign period' may have been under-reported by at ...
With the Shinfield Road traffic scheme continuing to be a poison legacy to the town from Labour, it is probably worth reminding people exactly who the individuals were who were responsible for it. Reading Borough Council Cabinet - 15th February 2010. 147. SHINFIELD ROAD CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AREA WAITING RESTRICTION - PETITION AND OBJECTION "Objections to RBC's proposals for Shinfield Road. We the undersigned, agree with increased safety and a better environment for the area. But we object to specific parts of RBC's plan for the following reasons: 1. Removing the roundabouts will increase traffic and congestion levels. 2. The study ...
I have just taken a message from Conwy Town Council asking if I could pass on this sad news that they have had to cancel this event due to the Weather conditions. Can you all pass on this info via your Blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Mike
Crumbling brickwork falls onto walkway below Local councillors have welcomed emergency action by South Gloucestershire Council to deal with falling brickwork at Abbotswood shopping centre, Yate. Since May South Glos has been called out on a number of occasions to deal with reports of damage and hazards to public safety. The ownership of the walkways and stairs to the flats is in dispute, so the council has stepped in to carry out emergency works. So far they have put up temporary boarding and safety barriers at a cost of £800. The problem is still getting worse as a result of ...
Jonathan Bartley, from Yes To Farier Votes, explains how the campaign is going: Also available on YouTube here.
If you wanted to find a historical model for the best kind of political activist and campaigner you couldn't do much better than to look at the career of Florence Nightingale. If you go beyond the "lady with the lamp" myth making you will find the story of a highly determined and principled woman who used her fame, her connections, her research skills, her understanding of statistics, and the forcefulness of her personality to shape public opinion and change government policy. In fact she used skills and techniques that would be very familiar to any modern lobbyist or public affairs ...
The environmental agenda is one which both the Lib Dems and the Tories would like to lay claim to in the Coalition so the ecologist finding strengths in Chris Huhne is a positive sign: But actually, from a purely environmental perspective, it's hard to stay too depressed because (whisper it) there are some signs that ...
Thu 23rd
10:25
The Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011: showing the difference Liberal Democrats make
Over the festive season we're running a series of posts on the main Liberal Democrat challenges for 2011. You can find all the posts as they appear here. When it comes to getting public support in return for making a positive impact on the coalition government, there are two requirements for the party. It has to have achievements that people know are down to the Liberal Democrats and also to have achievements which add up to more than a scattering of interesting details. Unless there is a clear thread running through them, the details will get lost in the non-political ...
The abolition of identity cards was confirmed on Tuesday, when the Identity Documents Bill was granted Royal Assent. Liberal Democrats have consistently campaigned against ID cards, a scheme introduced by the previous Labour Government. All existing ID cards will be cancelled within one month, and the National Identity Register, the database which contains the biographic and biometric fingerprint data of card holders, will be destroyed within two months. The Identity Card Scheme and other biometrics work has already cost the taxpayer £292 million. The Act has saved £835 million in planned future investment.
I am shocked by the apparent lack of action by Sefton Council regarding the snow which fell nearly a week ago in Southport. Many many residents have contacted me to express their shock and dismay that the roads and footpaths show absolutely no improvement. In fact I think the roads today are worse than ever with cars slipping and sliding all over the place since the road surfaces are like glass. Why are Preston New Road, Cambridge Road, Albert Road (Queens Road) and Lord Street still not clear of snow. I have asked for a verbal report to be given ...
Of the many questions the pundits and prognosticators will ask during 2011, one will dominate; is the AV referendum fundamental to the coalition? Of course, they'll add in a lot of extra words like "yes vote" and "survival of", which is a shame, because if they restricted themselves to the underlying question they'd find that the answer is yes, but for none of the reasons they've thought of. For while a referendum by definition asks a question, both the referendum and the coalition itself demand that we consider the same problem; how do we govern our country? And that's a ...
Cable affair shows Lib Dems are fighting for progressive policies | David Hall-Matthews | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The most sensible article I have seen so far about the supposed "cablegate" affair, aka "here, I've found this thing called an apple, and can you believe it, it's NOT an orange???" (tags: media vince government) Tory Councillor claims domestic violence policy a "war on men" | Too Much To Say For Myself A timely reminder that Tories and Lib Dems are in no way the same. (tags: sexism feminism bloodytories) Eight-year-old children publish bee study in Royal Society journal | ...
The time is now right for the Coalition to come to a natural end. It has given the country a period of stability in difficult economic times, however Tories and Lib Dems are not natural long term bed fellows. We have done our duty in the national interest to pick up the economic mess left by Labour, which I agree was vital at the time. My call comes in the light of comments by Ministers in the last few days, including Vince Cable. Here in Sussex, Norman Baker has spoken of the toll on his family being in government has ...
The Guardian's Wintour and Watt blog highlights a typically frank blog post from the Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay, Adrian Sanders. As you would expect the journalists are keen to quote the fairly strong criticisms of Nick Clegg than the more positive message at the end: Its overall message represents a head on disagreement about strategy, attitude and tactics. Around the time of the tuition fees vote, the party was rightly praising itself for conducting its internal debates without rancour. Well rancour has now well and truly turned up. Sanders writes: Unlike the bulk of the Liberal Democrat membership, the ...
If you give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest of men, I will find something in them which will hang him. - Attributed to Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal et Duc de Richelieu There's been some excellent commentary on the Telegraph surgery subterfuge story, so I'll just throw in this old quote from Cardinal Richelieu. I've not had time to think about Vince Cable's actual comments on the upcoming News International decision, although my instinct is that it is a painful lesson learnt about the need to be circumspect about decisions that require an impartial ...
After my comments yesterday about the determined attack on the Liberal Democrats coming from the right just as much as from the left, the scale of the moral rot at the Daily Telegraph becomes a little more shocking every day. After the theft of confidential information which exploded the MPs expenses scandal- which was illegal, but where prosecution was not undertaken, because the story was deemed to be in the public interest- the Telegraph got two of its associates to pose as constituents in order to gain private comments from Vince Cable about the coalition. It now appears that the ...
broadcast anniversaries 23 December 1967: broadcast of first episode of The Enemy of the World. The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on a near-future Australian beach, are attacked by gunmen, rescued by Astrid in her helicopter, and discover that the sinister Salamander is the Doctor's double. 23 December 1978: broadcast of first episode of The Power of Kroll. In search of the fifth segment, the Doctor and Romana land on the third moon of Delta Minor, where Romana is captured by the native Swampies and the Doctor by the protein miners.
A news release from Mike Hancock MP says: MP welcomes dropping of police action over allegations against him Hampshire Police have today confirmed that after consultation with the Criminal Prosecution Service (CPS) that they are dropping any further action against Mike Hancock MP (Lib Dem - Portsmouth South) over allegations made against him in August. Mike Hancock said: "I have always maintained my innocence over this. I have co-operated fully with police at all times and at all times vigorously contested these allegations. They have now been fully investigated and I am obviously pleased that the CPS and Police have ...
Apparently Ed Milliband, who supports the reform of the electoral system , has suggested that it would be better if Nick Clegg kept out of the referendum campaign. He's probably right, but illustrates how unsuitable referendums are for making political decisions - people are likely to vote on something other than the question asked. On Thursday I had my first session of training for the "Yes to Fairer Votes" campaign. This was again by telephone (for which I had to pay) and lasted an hour. The session was led by Alice, who asked each of us (there were about a ...
I've been asking for an open and honest Coalition since the start. The way Nick Clegg decided to go (to embrace every facet of the Coalition) was one I felt was not reflective of his "big idea" of the "new politics". I wanted the Tories and Lib Dems to be clear that they believed different things and were simply working together on a joint platform in the country's interests. I know, I'm a naive idealist whose hopes would have been dashed against the rocks of a cynical population, a deceitful opposition and an idiotic media. But now is the time ...
Newly released figures that show a staggering 200,000 more households are now living in fuel poverty than were doing so in 2004 must raise questions as to whether the Welsh Government's Fuel Poverty alleviation measures are being targeted in the right way. The recent heavy snowfall and continuing freezing temperatures have brought the issue back into the limelight. We've seen continuing significant snowfall across large parts of Wales in the past weeks, and if the severe winter continues, people are going to really struggle with bills and yet again be faced with the choice of heating or eating. In the ...
YAY they got Tiff back! BOO still no VBH or Suzi Perry, so it's still all boys. Still, I laughed so hard. So very hard. The news section was just awesome. The America film was brilliant. I loved the "Learn how to do a drive by shooting" section, although I suspect that they will get huggins of complaints about it. The cinematography is still glorious - one example was the most beautiful shot of my favourite skyscraper I have ever seen. But (you knew there was going to be a but, didn't you?) what has James done to his hair? ...
If the national media were to be believed (or Labour-led NUS for that matter) the story of the Liberal Democrats over the past 8 months has been all about tuition fees and nothing else. I would advise readers to have a look at the Party's achievements in Government so far (it runs to twelve pages). Meanwhile, let's not forget that Labour were promising cuts deeper than Thatcher's (before they lost the election): Nick Robinson's blog is a good summary.
PaulCornell.com: The Twelve Blogs of Christmas: Ten Paul gives his views on e-books and piracy (tags: copyright) The devil we know Me old mate Peter Osborne writes about the Parades Commission in Fortnight magazine (tags: northernireland) FROZEN STORIES - Definitely *not* a review of Ursula le Guin's "The Dispossessed" Why Peadar liked it when he was 15 and still likes it now. (tags: sf)
On the 10th December I wrote that "some MPs voted with the coalition because they have ministerial responsibility". Well at least four Liberal Democrat ministers have been secretly recorded expressing their concerns for government policies. Ministers can't do this but just because they are ministers doesn't stop them having individual views, it's just that they can't express them. All ministers are individuals and all have different views if you look closely enough. The problem here is that undercover agents of the press have uncovered their weaknesses. Vince Cable's disagreement with Mr Murdoch highlighted bias which should not be present in ...
